The Experimental Zone: An Interdisciplinary Investigation on the Spaces and Practices of Collaborative Research

Experimental Zone documents a remarkable experiment in spatial research at the interdisciplinary laboratory Image Knowledge Gestaltung at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Every two months, for four years, researchers reconfigured a 350–square meter workspace for forty scientists. The design-based collaborative experiment’s focus was on the interrelation of space and knowledge production: What spatial qualities are required by interdisciplinary teams for their research work?

With some 300 striking and straightforward graphics, Experimental Zone presents the findings of the experiment. It highlights the spatial conditions under which individual and collaborative research unfold, overlap, or merge and reveals the characteristics of an architecture that fosters interdisciplinary. The experiment’s innovative interdisciplinary approach is also reflected in the book’s design, with each of the five chapters and the comprehensive visual material reflecting publishing traditions in design, architecture, and the humanities.
 

Séverine Marguin is a sociologist at Technische Universität Berlin. Friedrich Schmidgall is a designer at Einstein Center Digital Future in Berlin. Together, they led research for Experimental Zone. Henrike Rabe is an architect and researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin. Together, they were the lead researchers for Experimental Zone.